


Life Goals

by TokuTenshi



Series: Of Things Not Seen [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Companion Piece, I Shall Weather the Storm, Minor Cullen Rutherford/Female Trevelyan, One-Shot, Spoilers, Though the Darkness Comes Upon Me, did you read chapter 20?, or is it a ficlet, placating readers, requested piece, seriously, whats a ficlet?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 15:49:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11626776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TokuTenshi/pseuds/TokuTenshi
Summary: [a small piece set after Chapter 20 of 'I Shall Weather the Storm', do not read until aforementioned chapter has been read or risk major story spoilers]The Divine's statement is read in South Reach and the Rutherford family reacts.





	Life Goals

The Rutherford's had never been an overly religious family. They believed in the Maker and His holy bride, followed the teachings of Andraste, but didn't really attend services as often as they should. Some days Mia wondered if her brother had siphoned off the devote nature from the rest of them and used it to achieve his life goal of being a templar. From the age of eight, it was all Cullen could think about and while Rosalie had never accomplished _her_ childhood dream of being a princess – or a cat, as she later decided – the eldest son of Madden and Allison Rutherford had accomplished his life's goal and become a fine templar officer.

In fact, Cullen's career was a great point of pride for his siblings and there wasn't a single person in South Reach that didn't know he was knight-commander over Kirkwall – _post_ Chantry explosion., of course. When notices went up on the Chanter's Board and just about every business that had a door to be nailed on to that the Divine would be releasing a statement, none of the Fereldan stationed siblings were keen on the idea of sitting through an entire sermon just to hear it. Rosalie claimed she was under the weather and Branson had the almost legitimate excuse of being the father of a newborn that would need his attention, so Mia – the oldest, the maturest, and the most responsible – went to service on her own.

The revered mother droned on for what felt like hours and the creaking, wooden bench was doing nothing for Mia's back. The Chantry in South Reach was old and windowless, making it stuffy and humid on even the most pleasant days, and today's autumn service was no exception. Sweat slowly dripped from Mia's hairline, snaking its way down her neck and disappearing beneath her clothes until it joined the darkened patches of linen already sticking to her body. She squirmed at the sensation and looked around at the rest of the congregation, most of whom seemed just as uncomfortable as she was. By the time the Divine's statement was being read, many Andrastians were already checked out.

_Blah blah mages._

_Blah blah templars._

_Blah blah the Chant._

_Blah blah Kirkwall._

Mia perked up at the mention of the Marcher city-state, pulling her focus back in to really listen to what the revered mother was reading.

_“I speak of a man and a woman, deeply in love.”_

Wait a minute.

_“Together, they have worked tirelessly to aid the victims of the Rebellion.”_

Was she talking about who Mia thought she was talking about?

_“Together, they have directed cleanup and restoration efforts of their home.”_

Divine Justinia couldn't mean Cullen and Ebrisa, could she?

_“Together, they have overcome the prejudices, injustices, and follies of their predecessors.”_

She was. Sweet Blood of Andraste, she really was.

“ _In Kirkwall, in the epicenter of this recent conflict between mages and templars, the Knight-Commander and First Enchanter are in love and they have my full support.”_

“Oh thank the Maker, its about damn time!”Mia jumped up from her seat, screaming so excitedly that the priest actually dropped the papers from her hand. The rest of the congregation turned to her warily, some wondering if she'd been bitten by some creature or been possessed by a mad spirit. She gave them no time to question her on the matter and made her way over laps and between legs until she had exited the long bench and raced out the building, leaving the door open behind her and letting a fresh current of air into the over-heated Chantry.

She bolted across the village, jumping over fences and sidestepping stray children until she made it all the way to her family's farmstead on the outskirts of South Reach. Mia burst open the front door, not having lost a single ounce of exhilaration in the long trek over. “You will not believe this!”

Crying rang out from the back room and Rosalie twisted around sharply from the kitchen table, bits of barely mixed dough flying from her fingers. “What's going on?”

“Cullen has a girlfriend!” Mia exclaimed.

“What Cullen?” Rosalie scrunched up her nose. “Our Cullen?”

“What other Cullen could I possibly care about?”

A groggy looking Branson entered the room, wife Cinnie following closely behind with their still whining child in her arms. “What's all this racket about?” Cinnie bounced lightly back and forth. “You woke the baby.”

“Oh, sorry,” Mia winced. “Was Jayden down long?”

“Jayden?” Cinnie chuckled softly and nudged Branson with her shoulder. “I meant this one.”

“Ha ha, dear,” Branson yawned.

Mia closed the door with her foot, looking at her family with a new grin in place. “So our brother, the fearsome knight-commander of Kirkwall, is in love.”

“Oh, that nice mage lady?” Rosalie pressed her hands back into the wet flour mixture and resumed her interrupted task.

“The very same, and more over...” Mia paused for dramatic effect. “The Divine said it was okay.”

Branson scrubbed his hands over his face. “But he's a templar.”

“The templariest,” Rosalie concurred.

“And she's a mage,” he continued.

“Lightning bolts and all,” the youngest Rutherford sang out.

“Ebrisa's more of a healer,” Mia corrected.

The siblings stood and talked about the brother they hadn't seen in years, about how much he'd grown since leaving their side, but most of all they relished the fact that Cullen could finally see himself as something more than a templar. He had finally achieved a much happier life goal.

 


End file.
